Transcultural nursing education: a view from within

There has been increasing interest in the nursing care of patients from minority ethnic communities in recent years. This has been linked to the promotion of transcultural competence within the profession in order to equip nurses to provide high quality and appropriate care within a multi-ethnic society. Nurse education has been identified as an ideal vehicle for the promotion of transcultural competence in both students and qualified nursing staff. However, many of the current approaches to transcultural education appear to reflect a single ethnocentric approach to transcultural education. This fails to appreciate the diversity which exists within both the profession and minority ethnic communities.The paper is written from a minority ethnic perspective and explores some of the issues for transcultural nurse education arising from this ethnocentric approach. It discusses some common approaches underpinning the provision of transcultural education and the potential consequences for a multi-ethnic profession seeking to 'value diversity'. It concludes that a review of some of the current approaches to transcultural education is required and suggests some practical points for consideration.